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At least one person was killed and 331 injured when security forces used live rounds, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse tens of thousands who took to the streets of Khartoum on Sunday to demand an end to military rule in Sudan, an authoritative medical group said.

The protests in Khartoum and elsewhere in the country were among the largest since a military takeover in October derailed Sudan's democratic transition and led to a political crisis.

A Sudanese protester helps another affected by tear gas during the clashes with security forces. EPA

A November 21 deal that reinstated Abdalla Hamdok, the prime minister of the civilian-led government dismissed by the military, fuelled street protests. For the protesters, the deal turned the former UN economist from a symbol of hope to a traitor.

The Doctors' Central Association identified the person killed on Sunday as Mohammed Magzoub Mohammed Ahmed, 28. It said he was shot in the chest with a live round at the Khartoum district of East Nile.

The association is linked to the pro-democracy movement but has a reputation for meticulously verifying and tallying casualties of political violence since the December 2018 start of a popular uprising against dictator Omar Al Bashir.

It said the 331 suffered injuries caused by rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas. It listed only three cases of protesters suffering live gunshot wounds, besides Mr Ahmed.

In a separate report, the Health Ministry said 123 people were injured in Sunday's violence, and all but two were in Khartoum. The other two were in Kassala, in eastern Sudan. The report made no mention of fatalities.

There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy, but government figures on casualties during protests have routinely been on the conservative side.

Khartoum appeared tense on Monday, with hundreds of troops backed by armoured vehicles deployed across the city at intersections and near Nile bridges. Traffic in the sprawling metropolis was also unusually congested on Monday. There were no reports of renewed protests.

On Sunday, protesters were initially denied the use of Nile bridges linking the capitals three main districts.

A tight security ring was thrown around the presidential palace and the headquarters of the military, both of which are in central Khartoum.

Protesters celebrate after reaching Sudan's Nile-side presidential palace at the heart of Khartoum. Reuters.

But the protesters, showing determination not seen in post-takeover rallies, braved tear gas and stun grenades, breaking through the lines of troops and police to march on the palace. Several thousand reached the palaces gates and intended to stage a sit-in protest outside its walls.

Additional security forces later arrived at the scene and dispersed them with volleys of tear gas fired at quick succession, according to witnesses.

Sundays rallies, given their size and the resolve shown by their participants, have increased the pressure on Mr Hamdok and Gen Abdel Fattah Al Burhan, the army chief and leader of the October takeover.

The pair will now have to quickly find a way out of the crisis or face renewed unrest that could spiral out of control and push the country towards chaos.

Sudanese security forces guard the Republican Palace in Khartoum after protesters reached it. EPA

Sundays rallies marked the third anniversary of the start of the 2018 popular uprising that forced the military to remove Al Bashir from power in April 2019.

Behind the latest rallies are the Sudanese Professionals Association, the Forces for Freedom and Change, and the Resistance Committees, three main groups that engineered that 2018-2019 uprising.

We call on our people to continue escalating resistance against the coup until power is handed over to the people, the Forces for Freedom and Change said late on Sunday.

The people will triumph and the December Revolution will not be defeated we call on all forces of revolution and change to rally behind one popular front not just to defeat the coup but to build a new nation.

Updated: December 20th 2021, 4:02 PM

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Sudan's pro-democracy rallies leave one dead and more than 300 injured - The National

Confined to bed and forced to watch television coverage of the Senate for a week, an American citizen wouldnt see anything resembling the old School House Rock cartoon about How a Bill Becomes a Law.

Committees dont draft careful legislation after weeks of deliberation. Senators dont debate the pros and cons of that legislation on the floor. Instead, we cram everything we can into overstuffed budget bills passed at the stroke of midnight to keep the governments lights on.

Today, more than half of young Americans believe our democracy is failing or in trouble. One think tank recently labeled America a backsliding democracy. The Senate does not bear all of the blame, but it deserves a lot.

The Founders wanted the Senate to make its decisions after careful consideration and debate. Now the Senate never debates and almost never decides.

READ:Colorado Sun opinion columnists.

Thats because current Senate rules, commonly mis-described as the filibuster, require a supermajority of 60 votes to advance legislation to a final vote. These rules, which exist nowhere in the Constitution, empower 41 senators, who often represent as little as 24% of Americans, to block debate and decisions about broadly supported legislation from voting rights to gun safety.

Until this century, senators rarely used the 60-vote threshold to pass legislation, and almost always to block civil rights and enforce segregation. Now, members invoke it daily, forcing both parties to jam their priorities through reconciliation, a mutant parliamentary workaround that allows certain budget-related bills to pass with a simple majority.

The result is a crisis of American democracy: the majority cannot govern, which means the nation cannot act. Our sclerosis discredits our system of self-government at the very moment authoritarian governments like Russia and China argue that democracy cannot meet the challenges of the 21st century.

For our democracy to compete, we have to restore the Senate. And theres no way to do that without reforming rules that a minority of craven lawmakers are abusing to grind the body to a standstill.

Lets be more specific about what needs to happen:

I know that Republicans and their allies in the conservative media will argue that the filibuster is a vital part of American politics and that any change would be nothing more than a partisan power grab.

But lets be clear: this isnt the first time that the Senate has impeded American progress, and it wouldnt be the first time that Senate rules have changed in response.

Before the Civil War, the Senate sheltered the minority interests of slave holders. After the war, it enabled monopolists, robber barons, and isolationists to profit from the misery of the conflict and its aftermath.

Each time, crises forced the Senate to fundamentally change how it went about its business. And each change led to meaningful progress, including clearing the way for the passage of the 14th and 15th amendments to emancipate and enfranchise former slaves, sweeping anti-trust reforms, and long-delayed legislation to protect civil rights.

The bottom line is that Senate rules are not suspended in amber; they can and have changed with the times. No one knew this better than the late Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. More than once, Byrd reformed the Senate to better serve the nation. In 1975, he even led the effort to reduce the votes required to end debate and proceed to a final vote from 67 to 60, where it stands today.

As we consider reforms, we should reject the choice between making the Senate more like the House, where the majority runs roughshod over the minority, or accepting the procedural straightjacket of our own design. If we change the rules, we should also be prepared to live under them whether we are in the majority or not.

Our goal is not to secure an immediate partisan advantage. It is to make the Senate work again and refire the engine of American democracy for our nation, and for the world.

Michael Bennet represents Colorado in the U.S. Senate

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Opinion: Reform the filibuster to revive the Senate and democracy. - The Colorado Sun

If youre a soccer fan, youre probably painfully familiar with the concept of an own goal that humiliating moment when a ball ricochets off a defender right into the back of the goal they were diligently trying to defend. But its a lot harder to understand when someone drills an own goal in the arena of politics.

And yet President Biden and his team have managed to kick it backward on a white-hot issue that burns millions of Americans yet gets ridiculously short shrift from the rest of the electorate: the $1.7 trillion student loan crisis. In 2020, then-candidate Joe Biden was clear in promising voters a speedy move to eliminate the first $10,000 of an individuals debt, writing that young people and other student debt holders bore the brunt of the last crisis. Advocates pushed for a higher figure of $50,000 but were grateful for the Democrats support noting many experts believe the Higher Education Act gives Biden power to cancel loans by an executive order.

Yet some 11 months into his presidency, Biden has steadfastly refused to do this. Instead, the White House is all in on resuming loan repayments for millions of stressed-out Americans on hold for nearly two years because of the pandemic early next year. Not only is the administration keeping secret an internal report on whether Biden has authority to cancel the loans, but now his aides are trying to lay the blame for this fiasco on Congress even though the White House hasnt included student debt relief in any of its major economic bills.

A stunningly tone-deaf Jen Psaki, Bidens press secretary, heralded the resumption of loan payments in February by stating a smooth transition back into repayment is a high priority for the administration. Not a priority then, for Team Biden, would be either the economic benefits of lifting the millstone thats prevented so many 20-somethings and 30-somethings from buying a house or even getting married and starting a family, or the moral benefits of undoing a system that because of the wealth gap falls hardest on Black and brown Americans.

But arguably the worst look for Biden, and his Democratic Party, is the political fallout. A recent YouGov poll conducted for the Economist found a massive drop in support for Biden among the young voters under age 30 who were so critical to the presidents 2020 election victory both by giving the Democrat a big margin and also by turning out in larger-than-average numbers. Now, Bidens roughly 50% plunge in net approval with these young voters portends a 2022 disaster for the Democrats, since many disillusioned young voters may just stay home.

The implosion of Bidens popularity with teen and 20-something voters couldnt come at a worse time for the Democrats. Just this week, the stubborn opposition of West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, increasingly a Democrat-in-name-only who seems to work better with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce than his supposed colleagues, is threatening the Biden program that includes climate action, pre-kindergarten and extending the popular child tax credit. And a proposed pivot to the critical issue of voting rights would need a 180-degree change of heart about the filibuster from Manchin and Arizona Democratic Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.

READ MORE: From college to climate, Democrats are sealing their doom by selling out young voters | Will Bunch

Ironically, this could have been a very good week for the Democrats because of the high-profile work of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection aimed at keeping Donald Trump in the presidency. New information emerging from the probe shows both a) the depths to which Team Trump was plotting a coup to prevent Biden from becoming president and b) the ways in which a new effort to install Trump in 2024, regardless of the vote count, is afoot.

But this isnt 1974, when Democrats scored a midterm landslide as voters punished the GOP for Richard Nixons Watergate. In capturing the thinnest possible majority on Capitol Hill a vice presidential tiebreaker in the Senate and currently a three-vote margin in the House Democrats seemingly got carried away in promoting Biden as a new FDR. That created a scenario in which instead of being rewarded for the substantial things hes done large-scale COVID-19 relief into a booming jobs market, an infrastructure bill and restoring some honor to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Biden faces a whupping for whats left undone.

The worst thing for Biden is that his biggest flops, so far, have fallen hardest on the voters who could turn the tide in the 2022 midterms with some enthusiasm, by reversing their history of low turnouts in nonpresidential years. These include the under-30 voters whove seen their biggest issues college debt, free community college, climate action the first to fall, and Black and brown voters who dont feel Democrats are going to the mat to save voting rights.

In theory, its not too late for Democrats to turn the aircraft carrier around before it sinks, but time is of the essence. Heres four potential game-changers.

1) Biden announces substantial student debt forgiveness before payments resume in February. The White House would be wise to claim the executive authority that many lawmakers and legal experts believe that Biden has to at the very minimum deliver the $10,000-per-individual debt forgiveness that he so clearly promised in his 2020 campaign. Its a boost for the economy that helps everyone. It would help, though, if Biden paired such an announcement with aid for noncollege youth, such as government help for trade schools.

2) Channel your inner LBJ to pass a voting rights bill as soon as possible. Two bills aimed at restoring voting rights the Freedom to Vote Act, and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which has already passed the House seem to have the necessary 50 votes (plus the vice president) to pass the Senate. Whats needed is a rule change that will effectively neuter the filibuster, at least on this issue. Although there are some doubters over the effectiveness of the Freedom to Vote Act, the real issue is much bigger. Democrats need to show their own voters theyll fight for them, rather than find excuses for inaction.

3) Declare a climate emergency and act accordingly. This months killer tornadoes and insane wind storms in the American heartland are more than enough of a trigger for Congress to pass a version of Build Back Better that contains whatever workable climate provisions exist within the reality of dealing with Manchin, who makes more money owning a coal company than from his day job in the Senate. But like Barack Obama before him, Biden should also be aggressive in using his executive powers to wean America off fossil fuels.

4) Scrap the initial scheme for Build Back Better to go large and go long on one big social program. Last summer, a more optimistic Democratic Party crammed an ambitious cradle-to-grave social agenda into one giant bill not because that made sense but because it was the only way to bypass the Republican filibuster. With Manchin arbitrarily imposing his own spending limits on the bill, the BBB has become a mishmosh of half measures. Take the most popular program arguably the child tax credit that is cutting child poverty in half and fully fund it over a number of years, as protection against a GOP win in 2022. (Minutes after I wrote this paragraph, Manchin went on Fox News to state his opposition to pretty much doing anything, but lets apply some pressure on the wayward West Virginian to consider ... something.)

Those four moves wouldnt squelch some lingering disappointment over what didnt get done pre-K, or paid family leave, or free community college but it would allow Democrats to run with a real track record, and as fighters for the middle-class folks who need to show up in November 2022. It also means the major disclosures about Jan. 6 and the contempt for democracy from Trump and those seeking to restore him to power wont fall on the deaf ears of rank-and-file Democrats infuriated over debacles like Bidens student loan misfire.

With the Republican Party completely off the rails, a functioning Democratic Party is indeed the best hope of saving our democratic norms. In theory, exposing the treachery of Jan. 6 and its support at the highest levels of the GOP would be enough. In reality, voters wont care about the loftier mission of preserving liberty unless the Dems get real about their everyday, bread-and-butter concerns. It means doing the things that show young people theres an actual difference between the two parties. It means scoring some goals instead of kicking it into your own net.

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If Dems want to save American democracy, they need to do these 4 things ASAP | Will Bunch - The Philadelphia Inquirer

New China Research, a think tank affiliated with Chinas Xinhua News Agency, recently released the multi-language documentary Pursuing Common Values of Humanity: Chinese Stories on Democracy, Freedom and Human Rights, chronicling stories about democracy, freedom and human rights through the lens of ordinary Chinese.

The documentarys directors explain the behind-the-scene stories.

Preface: A Common Pursuit

Narrator: Xiao Sisi, chief director

Peace, development, fairness, justice, democracy and freedom are the common values of all humankind, and the right to interpret them should belong to people of all countries. The Chinese people themselves have the greatest say in the true state of democracy, freedom and human rights in China.

For that reason, we spent nearly a year travelling through China, filming the stories of six ordinary Chinese citizens to record their lives. Through the main characters narration, the film tells their pursuit and aspiration for a better life. In their stories, we personally feel the values of democracy, freedom and human rights.

The documentary begins with a nine-year-old girl, and ends with a 90-year-old man, representing the lifespan of a human being. The Chinese people at different ages all enjoy the benefits of democracy, freedom and human rights. They are individuals, but each and everyone of them is a vivid embodiment of the abstract concepts of democracy, freedom and human rights.

In our documentary, sticking to the truth is the highest principle. We do not shy away from conflict. We believe that this makes the documentary more powerful.

We all love our country. We know that our country may not be perfect, but our pursuit of the best has never stopped. Chinas democracy, freedom, and human rights are the paths the Chinese people have chosen. We are moving forward in the direction of absolute perfection. We do not use a third-party narration because we hope that our audience can draw their own conclusions through their own observations and enjoy these authentic Chinese stories.

Story 1: Listen to the Movie

Narrated by: Xiong Lin, Tang Yang, Kong Linghang, Episode Director

The biggest wish of Chen Yuxin, an elementary school student at the Beijing School for the visually impaired, was to watch a movie.

In early September 2021, that wish came true. Together with her friends, and guided by some volunteers, Yuxin was able to watch the movie My People, My Homeland at the Tiantongyuan Cultural Arts Center in Changping District, Beijing.

Cai Yu, a 26-year-old PhD candidate at the Communication University of China and also a volunteer, said that during the intervals of dialogue and sound in the film, volunteers would describe the characters actions, expressions and surroundings, allowing the visually impaired to feel the message and emotions of the movie as much as possible.

For example, to explain the color red, they would use sun and heat. Films made like this help the visually impaired. The process isnt a simple one, however, as a two-hour film often takes volunteers a week to write the narration and four hours to record in the studio.

Since its inception in 2017, volunteers at the Communication University of Chinas Bright Cinema program have processed and produced more than 400 barrier-free films, allowing more than two million visually impaired people in China to see their works.

Story 2: Delivering Public Opinion

Narrator: Deng Chimin, Episode Director

In the bustling streets of Shanghai, courier Chai Shanshan asked many of his peers about their worries on the job for a government proposal he was researching. More than a decade ago, he came to Shanghai from his hometown in rural Hubei Province to work. Later, he was elected as a National Peoples Congress (NPC) deputy.

In China, being elected to the NPC means that you can send the opinions and suggestions of ordinary Chinese directly to the highest decision-making body and watch them become law across the country.

On 21 December 2020, Han, a 43-year-old delivery worker, died suddenly at work. His employer initially intended to pay only 2 000 yuan ($314). This incident caught Chais attention, and he crafted proposals on determining the relationship between part-time workers and employers and how to protect the rights of workers in new industries.

The relevant ministry of the central government responded to Chais proposal the next day. And in the second half of 2021, the Chinese government introduced related protective measures for delivery workers.

In China, ordinary citizens can voice their demands to the state through various channels. Among the deputies of the 13th NPC, ordinary workers and farmers like Chai account for 15.7% of all deputies.

Story 3: Slow Train

Narrator: Episode Director Xue Chen

In the era of high-speed trains with speeds of 250-350km/h, the Daliang Mountains in western China are still traversed by slow trains with an average speed of less than 40km/h. The slow trains run across the large and small mountains of Liangshan, connecting the remote mountainous area with the outside world. The total distance of the train journey is 376km, with 26 stops. The maximum fare for a ticket is 25.5 (about $4), while the minimum is 2 or 30 US cents, which has not changed for more than 30 years. For convenience, two rows of seats are removed at the ends of each carriage for stacking luggage and goods. While commuting, passengers can trade their home-raised poultry and souvenirs on board.

Today, China still keeps 81 pairs of slow trains covering 530 stations in 21 provinces, in order to ensure that people in less developed areas enjoy equal access to public services.

Chinas rapid development does not disregard the pursuit of speed, but it can be slow when needed. These slow trains will carry everyone on board towards common prosperity.

Story 4: Straw checkerboards

Narrator: Episode Directors He Shan and Huang Xiaobang

Morning light outlines the rhythmic curve of the sand dunes, as a team carrying shovels and wheat grass walk on the sand ridge.

Minqin County of Chinas Gansu province, which is located between Chinas two major deserts Badain Jaran and Tengger, has become a green barrier against sandstorms.

Ma Junhe, in his 40s, is one of the guardians of this green barrier. In 2007, Ma returned to his hometown and planted the first piece of grass square.

Straw checkerboards are a bunch of wheat grass in the shape of a square laid on the sand. People roll them into the sand with shovels, leaving 1/3 or half of the wheat grass above ground. This technique allows the wheat grass to firmly stand in the sand, and prevents the sand from being swept away by the wind. Once a sand dune has stabilised, haloxylon forests (hardy shrubs) can be planted. So far, Ma has led efforts to plant more than 30 000 acres of haloxylon forests and laid down countless straw checkerboards.

Each autumn, they lay the straw checkerboards and plant the haloxylon trees the next year. In a few years, the sand dunes will be fit for vegetable and fruit planting. Today Minqin Oasis is a vibrant community.

Story 5: Democratic Talkfests

Narrator: Episode Director Yin Xiaosheng

Wenling is a small city on Chinas east coast. It has a stunning landscape and vibrant economy. Here, a form of grassroots democracy is practised, where consultation is the norm.

Over the past 20 years, Wenling has held more than 30 000 democratic talkfests, addressing many urgent problems such as environmental pollution, worker wages, the renovation of the old town, sewage replacement and how to allocate public spending.

Similar forms of democratic talkfests are common in Chinas Zhejiang province. In Wuxing district of the city Huzhou, mediating social disputes has become a major source of democratic consultation. By involving all stakeholders, the district set up judges studios and prosecutors studios to resolve disputes. There are 40 community studios that work towards this end. In 2021, the centre resolved more than 95% of disputes through this process of democratic consultation, and the number of civil and commercial lawsuits brought to the court has dropped by 19.5% year-on-year.

Story 6: The Sunset

Narrator: Episode Director Xiong Qi

It was late in the afternoon on 5 March 2020. Liu Kai, a Wuhan doctor, was escorting Wang Xin, a Covid-19 patient in his 90s, to a CT scan. On the way, they were mesmerised by the brilliant sunset. The scene was recorded by a photographer and the photo, like the sun piercing the dark clouds, warmed countless netizens.

Thousands of miles away in Shanghai, Chinese composer Liu Jian was deeply moved by this image. The warmth that came to him inspired Liu Jian to compose the score Light of the Ark.

After the composition was completed, the music was delivered to Wang Xin. As a violinist, Wang Xin was very excited, but was unable to play as he was still recovering from illness.

When the winter was over, Wang Xin fully recovered. Liu Jian and Wang Xin finally joined together to play the heartwarming tune via video link.

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Stories of Democracy, Freedom and Human Rights, as told by ordinary Chinese citizens - Mail and Guardian

The mob attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, was a shameful and tragic day. Some in Congress on the Jan. 6 congressional committee believe it represented a threat to American democracy.

Yet some of these leaders support another threat to our democracy that is arguably even greater.

Controversial Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is wanted by the United States for leaking classified government information in 2010 and 2011 that revealed potential war crimes perpetrated by the United States. The U.S. wants him tried for espionage, and, late last week, a U.K. court granted his extradition.

Assange and his defenders contend leaking secret government information to the public is what any journalist might do on a regular basis. Basic reporting.

This is not new.When The New York Times published the Pentagon Papers in 1971, which showed how the president had deceived the public about the Vietnam War, the Richard Nixon administration sued the paper. Henry Kissinger called the leaker, Daniel Ellsberg, "the most dangerous man in America." Nixon reportedly raged at his aides over Ellsberg, telling them to "destroy" that "son of a b---h" and "I don't care how you do it."

Successfullyrepresenting The New York Times then was attorney James Goodale. When former President Barack Obama was seeking to punish Assange, Goodale compared the situation to the Pentagon Papers case, telling The Guardian in 2013 "it's the very same thing ... [Y]ou've got to remember, [Chelsea] Manning's the leaker. Everyone says Assange is a leaker. He's not a leaker. He's the person who gets the information." That means "if you go after Wikileaks criminally, you go after the Times," amounting to "the criminalization of the whole process," Goodale argued.

The criminalization of journalism?

A free press is the cornerstone of any democratic society. Some will continue to argue whether the problematic Assange is actually a journalist, just as some now debate whether the Jan. 6 attack represents something greater than just the chaos of that day. But if Assange were found guilty of espionage for his actions, there is good reason to fear it would have a chilling effect on America's free press and do irreparable harm to our democracy.

Goodale warned of this very prospect back in 2013. "It's absolutely frightening," he said.

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The criminalization of journalism? - The Week Magazine